"This book is introducing readers to the lost history of the sacred feminine and to the jolting idea that God can be visualized in feminine ways." (Sue Monk Kidd)

I read this based on a high recommendation from a trusted reading friend. This is Christian religious feminism, which is a type of feminist writing I've not read before. I am used to angry feminist writing, most of which makes me yell (excuse the language) "Fuck the patriarchy!" This is definitely feminist, but more gentle.

I liked her imagery in the section "The Feminine Wound" of a deep wound all girls and women feel as they discover and encounter patriarchy. "For girls there is always a moment when the earnest, endearing assumption of equality is lost".

Another I liked from this section: "the flat-out truth is that we have come into a world, into a church or faith tradition, that for milennia has believed us inferior. It is a tradition permeated by an authoritarian attitude that devalues, diminshes, rejects, and limits women and the feminine."

From "Forming a Feminist Critique: "Betrayal of any kind is hard, but betrayal by one's religion is excruciating. It makes you want to rage and weep. It deposits a powerful energy inside."

I also thought this was funny "it is high time people relized that God is more than two men and a bird."

There is a lot to like here, and my critiques are that it is repetitive, and that her writing can lean towards being precious. "You know the feeling you get when you stumble on a moment like some great mystery has brushed your shoulder?" Too many moments like that in a row lose their impact for me.

A great recommendation and I will be thinking about this book for a long time.

I loved this book. I wanted to devour it, but instead I took my time and read a little bit most mornings, when the house was quiet and I could take my time and really think about what she was saying.

The references to Mother Goddess and feminine power made me uncomfortable and that really interested me. As I got further into the book I was able to unpack some of the reasons why I felt that way through what SMK was experiencing herself.

I really loved her references to Gnostic Christianity and also her unpacking of the role of Ariadne in the myth of the Minotaur and Theseus, and the way that story has changed over time as our society has cultivated a more patriarchal interpretation of stories.

This is one that’s going to sit with me for a while, and I’ll be working through/pondering a lot of it for a long time to come. No doubt I’ll be revisiting it often. What a treat.

It was wonderful to revisit this book and remember how essential it is that women (and men) find their own spiritual path, regardless of how it looks to others. As women, we have a specific wall to scale - our patriarchal culture, even though it has evolved quite a bit in both Kidd's and my lifetime, still has an oppression that is centuries old. We can't ignore the deepest ingrained sexism and misogyny that lurks everywhere. We don't have to make it the focus of our lives, but it is essential to remember that it exists and that it affects us.

Kidd has some great stories of how she handles this oppression, from making impromptu rituals, to traveling to sacred sites of the Ancient Goddess. This is a wonderful book for any woman who is leaving her religious upbringing and finding her own path.

This book has been recommended to me multiple times, and I finally got around to reading it this Mother's Day.

It's definitely a book that needed to be written, and I gave it five stars because I don't know of another book that addresses this important subject as well as The Dance of the Dissident Daughter (If you do, please tell me, because I would love to read it). Kidd's description of her awakening to how male-centric her religion was really struck a chord with me. As a Mormon, I found it fascinating that many of the Christian doctrines she cites (such as the maligning of Eve, or the lack of a female divinity) are actually rectified in my own faith. But on a practical level, in spite of our more egalitarian doctrines, the attitudes of many church members toward women (and some of the things I hear from the pulpit) are the same as Kidd describes.

I didn't connect as much to the second half of the book, where she describes all the interesting things she did to connect with the Sacred Feminine. I don't really feel a need to do Jungian psychoanalysis or make string mazes through the forest. She also seemed to shift from wanting to connect with God to connecting with the divine within herself. They're certainly related, but I thought she conflated them, perhaps excessively. Still, many of her suggestions (e.g. meditation, sacred space, making a shift from living vicariously through others) are helpful. Also included in the Notes section is a sort of informal bibliography, which I will definitely be checking out for further reading.

The one bizarre thing is that Kidd appears to assume that every woman's journey will be virtually identical to hers. She is constantly extrapolating her own experience, even very specific bits of it, and prognosticating that every woman will go through a similar moment. I actually did find myself relating to her experience in many, many particulars, but I can see how someone might find her constant assumption that she is a sort of archetype for "everywoman" annoying.

All in all, an enlightening book, and definitely worth a read if you have any interest at all in the Sacred Feminine.